We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Gonor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

In 2020, during the middle of the world shutting down from COVID, I had this deep intuitive feeling that I couldn’t ignore. It honestly felt like the universe was nudging me saying, “Start the podcast.” At the time, I had no big business plan, no strategy behind it, and no idea where it would lead. I just knew I was supposed to do it. So I listened. That’s how Uncover Your Magic was born.

I started recording episodes from my heart, talking about mindset, parenting, perspective, and how I was navigating life with my daughters during quarantine. My girls were struggling with the same emotions so many kids were feeling at the time — isolation, uncertainty, anxiety, disconnection from friends, and the emotional weight of suddenly living life through a screen. But inside our home, we were using tools I had taught my girls for years: gratitude, affirmations, visualization, shifting your story, and learning how powerful your thoughts and words really are.

What surprised me was how many people started reaching out after listening. I had hundreds of parents messaging me saying, “My child is struggling mentally. Can you help?” At that moment, I realized this was so much bigger than a podcast. There was a massive need for emotional support, mindset tools, and confidence-building for kids and parents, especially during such an uncertain time.

That’s when I created my course Raising Confidence for kids and teens, along with The Magic Path for parents. What made it different was that I wasn’t teaching from theory — I was teaching from real life. I was living it inside my own home with my daughters. I was helping kids understand that their thoughts create their reality, that they are not victims of their circumstances, and that confidence is something you build like a muscle.

What excited me most was seeing how quickly kids transformed when they were given simple but powerful tools most schools were never teaching. Kids don’t usually learn emotional resilience, self-worth, mindset, or how to manage their inner dialogue. Parents were overwhelmed, kids were disconnected, and I felt called to bridge that gap in a way that felt relatable, uplifting, and empowering.

There was also something very different about my approach. I blended mindset work, intuition, spirituality, personal development, visualization, and emotional awareness together in a way that felt inspiring instead of clinical. I wanted kids and parents to remember who they truly are and understand they have more power than they realize.

Now, six years later, what started as one intuitive “yes” has grown into something beyond what I could have imagined. Through Uncover Your Magic, I host retreats, speak at schools throughout San Diego, teach mindset programs to children and teens, work with parents, and continue helping people shift the stories they tell themselves so they can create a completely different reality for their lives.

Looking back, I really believe the success came from authenticity. I wasn’t trying to build a business at first — I was simply answering a call I felt deep in my soul. And when you lead with purpose and genuinely help people solve a problem they’re desperate for support with, everything else starts to align.

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Ashley Gonor, and I’m the host of the Uncover Your Magic podcast, a mindset coach for kids, teens, and parents, speaker, retreat host, and creator of transformational programs focused on confidence, mindset, and emotional wellness. At the core of everything I do is one mission: helping people remember how powerful they truly are.

My journey into this work really started as a mom. For years, I was teaching my daughters mindset tools inside our home long before it became my business. I taught them gratitude, affirmations, visualization, intentional thinking, and how your words and thoughts shape your reality. Those practices became the foundation of how we navigated life as a family.

In 2020, during COVID, I felt an intuitive pull to start a podcast. I didn’t fully understand why at the time, but I listened to that inner voice and launched Uncover Your Magic. I began sharing stories about parenting, mindset, spirituality, personal growth, and how we were navigating quarantine as a family. Almost immediately, parents started reaching out saying their children were struggling mentally and emotionally from isolation, online school, anxiety, and disconnection.

That moment changed everything for me. I realized there was a huge gap in what kids and parents were being taught. Children were learning math and science in school, but they weren’t learning emotional resilience, confidence, self-worth, or how to manage their thoughts and emotions. Parents were overwhelmed and looking for guidance on how to support their children through fear, stress, and uncertainty.

That’s when I created my programs Raising Confidence for kids and teens and The Magic Path for parents. What makes my work different is that I blend mindset coaching, emotional wellness, spirituality, intuition, and practical daily tools together in a way that feels empowering, relatable, and transformational. I don’t teach from theory alone — I teach from lived experience, both as a mother and through years of working directly with families, schools, and young people.

Today, six years later, my work has expanded far beyond what I originally imagined. I now host retreats, teach mindset classes in schools throughout San Diego, lead workshops for children and parents, speak at events, and continue reaching people all over the world through my podcast and programs. I also work closely with teens and young women in leadership and confidence development, helping them step into their voice, trust themselves, and create lives aligned with who they truly are.

One of the things I’m most proud of is seeing real transformation happen in families. Watching a child go from anxious and insecure to confident and empowered, or seeing parents completely shift the way they communicate and connect with their kids, is why I do this work. I truly believe mindset is one of the most important life skills we can teach the next generation.

I also think what sets me apart is the heart and authenticity behind my brand. Everything I teach is something I genuinely live. I believe in leading with intuition, connection, and purpose. I want people to feel seen, inspired, and reminded that they are capable of far more than they’ve been conditioned to believe.

The biggest message I want people to take away from my work is this: your story is not fixed. You can change your mindset, shift your perspective, and completely transform your life when you begin to believe in your own power. My goal through every podcast episode, retreat, workshop, and course is to help people uncover the magic that has been inside them all along.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think what helped me build my reputation most is authenticity and genuinely caring about people. I never started this work focused on building a brand or becoming known in my market — I started because I felt deeply called to help families, kids, and parents during a time when so many people were struggling emotionally and mentally. Everything grew very organically from there.

I also believe people connect with realness. I openly share my own experiences as a mom, the mindset tools I used with my daughters, the challenges we’ve navigated, and the lessons we’ve learned along the way. I think that vulnerability and honesty helped people trust me because they could see I wasn’t teaching from a textbook — I was living it in real time.

Another huge part of building my reputation has been consistency. For the past six years, I’ve consistently shown up through my podcast, school programs, retreats, workshops, speaking engagements, and online content. Whether I’m speaking to a room full of children at a school in San Diego, coaching parents, or interviewing transformational guests on Uncover Your Magic, my mission has always stayed the same: helping people shift their mindset, build confidence, and remember their own power.

I also think my approach is unique because I blend mindset, emotional wellness, spirituality, intuition, and practical life tools together in a way that feels relatable and empowering. I’m not just focused on motivation — I’m focused on transformation and giving people tools they can actually use in their everyday lives.

Most importantly, I truly care about creating impact. A lot of my growth has come through word of mouth from parents, schools, podcast listeners, and families who have experienced real changes in their lives. When people feel genuinely seen, supported, and empowered, they naturally share that experience with others, and I think that’s been one of the biggest reasons my reputation has continued to grow.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

Yes — my entrepreneurial journey actually started long before my podcast or mindset coaching business. Back in 2001, I took one of the biggest risks of my life and bought a spa, even though I had absolutely no experience in the spa industry. Looking back, it sounds crazy, but at the time I was following something much deeper than logic — I was following my intuition.

I knew I didn’t want to live a traditional 9-to-5 life working for someone else. I wanted freedom, creativity, and the ability to build something of my own. I had this strong inner belief that I was meant to create a business and be in control of my future, even though I didn’t fully know how I was going to do it.

The opportunity came when I purchased the spa from another woman, and honestly, the acquisition process itself was both exciting and terrifying. I didn’t have some big corporate background or a business degree. I was learning as I went. I simply trusted that if I stayed driven, intentional, and committed, I would figure it out along the way.

Not long after I bought the business, the building flooded, which could have completely stopped everything before it even really began. Instead of giving up, I took another huge leap and moved into a new suite. I rebuilt from the ground up with no roadmap, no industry knowledge, and no guarantee it would work. What I did have was determination, vision, work ethic, and a belief in myself.

I poured everything into building that business. I focused on creating relationships, providing a great experience for clients, and showing up every single day willing to learn. Over time, the spa became very successful, and that experience taught me one of the biggest lessons of my life: you do not need to have everything figured out before you begin. Sometimes success comes from being willing to trust yourself before the evidence exists.

After five years of building the spa, I sold the business when I became pregnant with my first daughter. That chapter of my life taught me so much about entrepreneurship, risk-taking, resilience, and trusting intuition — lessons that I still carry into my business and life today.

I think that experience is also what gave me the confidence later in life to trust intuitive nudges again, whether it was starting Uncover Your Magic, creating courses, hosting retreats, or speaking in schools. It showed me early on that some of the biggest opportunities in life come from saying yes before you feel fully ready.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleygonor.com
• Instagram: @ashleygonor
• Facebook: @ashleyerholmgonor
• Linkedin: ashleygonor
• Youtube: @ashleygonor

Image Credits

Yes